Four generations – Orlando with wife JoAnn, grandfather Jose, father Alfredo, and two children Brian and Jolin circa 1978.

It is impossible to tell Orlando’s story without mentioning the importance of his family.  From a young age, Orlando valued time spent with family members, taking time to learn from his father Alfredo and grandfather Jose.  Orlando shared memories of time spent with his father that show how Alfredo shaped his character.  Alfredo was never a drinker, so he didn’t show Orlando how to play billiards, poker, or any other games of that sort because he believed they were games “for people that drank…barroom things.”  To this day, Orlando is not a heavy drinker, and he attributes that to the example his father provided.

Orlando’s paternal grandparents Jose and Natividad with his daughter Jolin circa 1971.

Transitioning to Orlando’s adult-family life, each job that he took and every move that he made happened in order to ensure the safety and security of his wife JoAnn and their children Brian and Jolin.  Orlando did whatever it took, including operating a small photography business on the side for twenty years, in order to supplement his salary to pay for his children’s private education.  He had this to say when asked about the two of them: “I was lucky. My children were smart enough to be able to manage going to a college like this one here [Dartmouth].  And both of them liked it, both of them did pretty well and they have very successful lives.  And as a father from the type of country where I came from, a father’s wish is to hope that [his] children do better than [he] did so on and so forth.  So I think I accomplished that much.”

Both Brian and Jolin have children of their own whom Orlando enjoys “immensely.”

The Dartmouth article on Orlando’s daughter Jolin 

Brian’s Entegra Development Profile

Orlando with wife JoAnn, daughter Jolin, and mother Cristina at son Brian’s wedding rehearsal dinner circa 2003.

In regards to the three siblings Orlando left behind in Venezuela when he migrated to the United States, two are still living in their homeland, while one lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  Orlando communicates with all of his brothers, but mentioned recent difficulties with reaching Alfredo and Richard living in Venezuela.  The two men live in the outskirts of Caracas in areas that the government chose to prohibit Internet access.